Please help me find with this movie...

[Sluggs]

I'm not quite sure if this is a British movie or not, but here goes...



This was shown on TV, (ITV, IIRC), around the late 70's, early 80's, late at night, probably around 9.pm and it was about a boarding/private school.



There's not much I remember about it really. The only things I do remember, was this lad, (chubby I think), committing suicide by either throwing himself out of a window or going to the roof of the school and jumping off, (most likely due to bullying), and the opening closing titles were displayed over a painting of the school, which was surrounded by trees. IIRC, the titles and end credits used the same painting, which looked something like this one...







I think the title/credits music was some hymn, sung by a choir.



I do hope this will ring some bells, because I've been looking for this movie forever! I have tried a couple of other sites for help, but to no avail.



You're my last hope... Please help!



PS. This damn movie is driving me banana's!

[cletus awreetus]

Possibly If or Tom Brown's Schooldays perhaps?

[knobbykins]

I haven't seen it for ages but there was a C4 film called GOOD AND BAD AT GAMES which had a bit of bullying,can't remember much else but this just popped into my mind.It may only have rung a bell because i've been on the look-out for this one for years,aswell!

[cletus awreetus]

How about Unman, Wittering and Zigo

[Sluggs]

"If..." was suggested to me a while a go, but that's not the one. Your other suggestion is definately not the one, and before someone asks, "Another Country" isn't it either, (which was also suggested to me in another forum)



I don't think the word "School" is in the movie title. In fact, I think it's a title that doesn't give you the impression that it's going to be about a boarding school.



Edit: Crikey, more responses before I finish typing! I'll check those others out, but in the meantime, please keep those suggestions coming in, thanks!

[penfold]

There is a chubby kid in Unman Wittering and Zygo but he ends up jumping off a cliff.....in Good or Bad at Games , IIRC Anton Lesser is the bullied kid come back as an adult to wreak revenge on his tormentors....UWand Z sounds closer, but I don't recall a painting either in the opening or closing credits....but then again the school is surrounded by a wood in real life, as here.... http://www.useful4all.com/wedding/rbcs.jpg

[Hugo]

Could it be the Hammer film, FEAR IN THE NIGHT (GB 1972) ?

[penfold]

Didn't 'To Serve Them All My Days' have a painting of the school in the opening credits??

[lostintown]

Definitely not "Good and Bad at Games" (no fat kids or paintings), if that helps.

[rskershaw]

name='penfold']Didn't 'To Serve Them All My Days' have a painting of the school in the opening credits??

That's what I thought, but I can't remember a suicide as described.

[Sluggs]

name='Hugo']Could it be the Hammer film, FEAR IN THE NIGHT (GB 1972) ?

I already have that movie. Going to do a bit of research now on some of the others mentioned.



"To Serve Them all my Days" isn't the one. It's a similar ending, but it's not a painting, and the film I'm after wasn't War related.

[Sluggs]

It has been suggested to me that the movie I'm after could be "Child's Play" (1972)



After doing some research, it does sound like this is the movie I'm after!



Does anyone have this movie? If so, would you check the credits out for me please, and tell me if the titles are displayed over a painting of the school? The music should be some hymn as well, thanks! A screenie would be nice too!

[lancethecook]

Heres what the IMDB says about childs play 1972

"Child's Play" is about the destructive goings-on at a boy's school and the friction between two faculty members. Joe Dobbs, English teacher, likeable, charming, favored by his students, is the junior class leader. The senior class leader, Latin and Greek instructor Jerome Malley, is feared and despised by the boys in his class. He is a strict disciplinarian with the nickname of "Lash". Dobbs is constantly trying to get Malley to "ease up" on his pupils. In fact, the only thing standing between Dobbs becoming the senior class leader is Malley's imminent retirement. Layered on top of this conflict between the two men is the increasingly bizarre and distructive behavior of the boys themselves. Malley also seems to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown due to the stress of dealing with his dying mother compounded by the receipt of anonymous threatening phone calls and messages. Malley's prickly personality wins no friends or sympathy when he claims Hobbs is the source of these hectoring calls and letters.



Into all of this turmoil comes Paul Reis, the new PE instructor, who was formerly a student at the school. As an outsider bringing a fresh perspective, he first sides with Hobbs, but, getting to understand Malley's torments on a more personal level, he begins to have doubts about Hobbs' motivation.



The end of the film is both tragic and bizarre.

[batman]

The part of Jerome Malley was originally to be played by Marlon Brando, but he bailed out shortly before production started. I can't remember why. James Mason took over.



Bats.

[Sluggs]

Sorry for bumping this, but I've only recently found this movie!



It's The Lords Of Discipline (1983)

[Sluggs]

Does anyone know if there's another version of this? I'm sure this is the movie I was after, but the opening titles and the credits aren't what I was expecting. I don't know, maybe I'm getting two movies mixed up?

[pod1969]

name='knobbykins']I've been on the look-out for GOOD AND BAD AT GAMES for years.

You may well have it by now, of course, but, if not, drop me a line. I can help on that score.

[Jack Gurney]

The description of LORDS on IMDB sounds nothing like the film you were asking about: CHILD'S PLAY is closer. Bear in mind, you said you saw the film in the late 70s/early 80s- well, LORDS OF DISCIPLINE wasn't made until 1983, so that wouldn't have been possible, unless you saw it at the cinema.



CHILD'S PLAY was on in 1985 the last I remember (the same week as DANGEROUS DAVIES and THE THIRD MAN, so a good week for films) but I'm sure it was screened earlier than that too.